Perfect? This shit was far from perfect.
“I’ll text you at five with the location,” she said, smiling widely at me. “Don’t be tardy, Drake. You don’t want to keep me waiting.”
“Whatever,” I snapped before spinning on my heels and leaving her there to grin by herself. She was increasingly getting aggressive, and I couldn’t afford having her toy with my life that way. Not only was my workload triple the amount, but worrying about my wife and baby’s welfare was another thing entirely.
How in the world had I become tangled with a psychotic woman to begin with? By sampling women perhaps? my mind butted in, mocking me to no end.
Great. This day was going to be fan-fucking-tastic.
Chapter 11
Drake
I wasn’t sure when the last time I had checked the time the way I had done today was. Glancing at my watch, the wall clock, table clock, my computer screen time, and whatever device that readily gave the time of the day, I checked uncounted times. It was one of those days where you didn’t want the time to run quickly, and it did the plain opposite by fast-forwarding time while I contemplated all the reasons why I shouldn’t go.
She was blackmailing me, and I wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
For one, she was giving subtle threats, slight innuendoes of what could happen if her wishes weren’t followed. Second, I didn’t have only myself and my own safety to think about. Not only did I have to put my wife’s needs and safety first, but I also needed to protect my unborn child. Heaven forbid if something happened to this baby. I wasn’t sure if Lily or I could ever recover like we had the last time. Lily would be absolutely devastated, and I knew it would be harder to draw her out of depression the second time around. If something was to happen to our baby, she wouldn’t forgive herself. I doubted she would ever give me the opportunity to make it up to her.
When five rolled around, I was already half expecting Shannon’s text message to tell me where the location was going to be.
The Red Room in Encino. Meet you there in an hour. Don’t be late.
Fuck. One more hour to go, and I hated every damn second of it.
Not having much choice other than to give Lily a call about coming home late, I reluctantly took the phone and started dialing her as I reclined in my chair and massaged the side of my temples.
“Lil?” I said the moment she picked up my call.
“Hey, what time will you be home? I’ve missed you.” She sounded enthused, making me feel more like a heel for hiding the fact that I was meeting Shannon.
“Uh … I’m not sure what time, but I’ll try to get home as soon as I can. There’s something that came up, and I need to get through it tonight. It can’t wait until tomorrow.” I despised lying to her; however, I couldn’t risk upsetting her, most especially since she was already going through so much with the pregnancy. I had to deal with this on my own, for the meantime.
“Really? Is it that important? I was hoping we could go over to your parents’ house since Mom called earlier and said she’s going to have dinner with them, and I was wondering if you and I could join them, as well. But, if it’s really important that you finish this project tonight, then I understand.”
Fuck, she sounded like I had let her down, but I couldn’t cancel on Shannon when she had proven to be completely unstable. “Baby, I’m sorry, but I can’t tonight. Maybe tomorrow? Would that do?”
She sighed loudly, making me feel all the more horrible. “I guess …”
It was one of those times that I didn’t need for her to be difficult, yet I couldn’t really lay the blame on her. Anything that dealt with Shannon was all on me, not her.
“Please, Lil. I can’t have you not be okay with this. Please …” I was almost begging. I hated to be in this position—feeling helpless and having no clue how to deal with Shannon. The woman was more than capable of doing anything. She had said it best earlier that morning.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve just been so lonely being here on my own.”
I knew she was, and I hated that she was alone at home, sacrificing her work, her passion, for the sake of our growing baby. I loathed the fact that I couldn’t do much to help them, either.
“I know, Lily. I know, and I hate myself for asking this of you, but let this slide just for once.”
“All right …” she conceded after a few seconds. “I guess I’ll be seeing you later tonight, then.”
“You will,” I whispered into the receiver, feeling a little better. “I love you, Lily.”
“Love you, too.”